Greenfield Village

We had a great (and hot!) day at Greenfield Village today! We are so fortunate to have this historical museum so close to our school. Thanks so much to all of our parent (and grandparent!) chaperones who helped make the day possible. Check out our video below!

Some Very Special Guests!

I was very honored this weekend to host some very special guests last Friday evening and Sunday morning. My family enjoyed spending time with the boys and girls they have been hearing about all year. On Friday evening, the girls enjoyed decorating cupcakes, making their own mini pizzas, and getting their nails done all before their ice cream treat. On Saturday afternoon, the boys enjoyed inflatable hockey stick races, played water balloon dodge-ball, had a cookout, visited the middle school behind my house for basketball and track events before heading over for some ice cream at Dairy Treat. Check out the videos below. (All videos can be downloaded if you would like to save them.)

Field Day Fun!

Students enjoyed a great afternoon of teamwork and friendly competition during our annual field day. The weather cooperated 100% with us which made the day even better! Thanks to Mr. Grant and all of our parent volunteers who made the afternoon so memorable.

Extra! Extra! All about Titanic!

Our Titanic Newspapers are finished! This week, our third graders completed all the necessary parts of their Titanic newspapers and put them all together in a Breaking New Front Page. The newspapers are filled with nonfiction writing, including a newspaper article that summarizes the disaster and aftermath, an interview that they conducted on Titanic Day along with a timeline and a list of facts each student found interesting. Students had to follow a lot of directions to do the front page layout. They measured and cut headlines, balanced print with pictures and had to make many decisions along the way! Newspapers will be displayed in the hall very soon! Update: Check out the video below to see the hall display being created by our third graders!

Fun Run: May 12

Our class had a lot of fun helping raise money for the PTO. Special thanks to the parents who came out to help and to cheer us on.

Best Part of Me

This is always one of my favorite projects--The Best Part of Me Poetry Project. In the book, The Best Part of Me, author Wendy Ewald talks to students in Washington D.C, schools, asking them what their best feature was and why. She discovered the joy of young students who had positive things to say about their favorite parts without hesitation. I always enjoy hearing our third graders describe why they love their eyes, ears, toes and hands.

Maple Syrup Field Trip and Pancake Breakfast

Maple Syruping at the Nature Center

What a wonderful trip learning how maple trees produce sap which we collect and turn into syrup. We were especially lucky because volunteers were there running the evaporator for us!

Third Grade Music Performance

What a joy to see out third graders perform this week. Below you will see two videos. The first one highlights some of the singing while the second one is a compilation of photos taken before, during and after the show.

Typing Camp!

Our third graders had a great 3 days of keyboard training at "Camp Almena," and we also enjoyed some special activities along the way, like our reading camp-out, winter(in 70 degree temps!) hike and of course making s'mores and old-fashioned scout-inspired trail mix made from cereals, pretzels, m&m's, goldfish crackers and more! Oh, and student were also learning to type! Most students had memorized the keyboard by the end of the second day and were able to type with the "skins" (keyboard covers) on with no problem. I saw the newly learned keyboarding skills transferring back to the classroom by the end of the week when they were working on laptops--students were typing with both hands, keeping them firmly planted on home row. I was very excited to see the progress they made from the beginning to the end of the week! Check out all the pictures from our week in the photo gallery!

Valentine's Day 2017

What a fun-filled day we had on February 14! In the morning time was spent admiring each other's Valentine boxes (after measuring their width, length and heights) followed by the traditional passing out of the Valentine cards. Thanks to our awesome rom moms, Mrs. Ahlquist and Mrs. Sutton, along with the help of many other parents, students were treated to a great party. See all the photos in our photo gallery.

Festival of Lights with Mrs. Hou

We were very fortunate to have visit from Mrs. Hou who talked the children about the Festival of Lights and the culture and traditions of Taiwan. We learned a lot and had fun answering riddles too!

Owl Pellet Dissection

Naturalists from the Stage Nature Center in Troy helped us learn about owls that live in Michigan, and as part of the program each student was able to take a part an owl pellet to learn about food chains during our Structures of Life science unit.

Snowy Fun~January 10

On a day that saw snowy roads and late buses, our third graders took advantage of the weather for a fun-filled recess!

Cardboard Challenge

On January 6, all three third grade classes took part in an engineering activity, The Cardboard Challenge. Using cardboard and tape donated by parents, students were challenged to plan, design, build, test and modify a bridge and vehicle that could safely carry the three class mascots across the LGI "River." Students learned they needed to collaborate, support, lead and follow during this day long activity. At the end, students watched as each team tested their final product. This open-ended task was definitely a challenge, but one our students learned a lot from.

Happy New Year!

Special Guest--Uncle Ryan Commerson!

We were very fortunate to have Holden's Uncle Ryan, along with his fiancee, Jessica, visit us for a school assembly. "Uncle Ryan" Commerson, who was born deaf and is now a film maker, shared with students the uplifting message to believe in themselves--there are no limits and no excuses for doing and achieving all that you want to in life.

Holiday Party and Sing Along

Thanks to our room moms, Mrs. Ahlquist and Mrs. Sutton, along with many other parents whose time and donations made the holdiay party fun for all. On the last day of school we enjoyed the annual sing along in the school cafeteria.

A Little Holiday Creativity

During the last week of school, students used their creative skills making gifts for their parents and secret pals!

A Trip to the Candy Factory

We had a great trip to the candy factory this morning! Students were able to see mass production in action as the factory was in full swing. Items in production in front of us were their delicious dark chocolate seas salt caramels, honeycomb crisps and chocolate covered potato chips. Yum! While in production, the factory had 5,000 pounds of melted chocolate flowing throught the pipes overhead and another 35,000 pounds melted and waiting in the back room. Morley's and Sanders candy can be found in stores around the world. It's also private labeled for Macy's, Target, Costco (Kirland candy) and Disney gift shops. Watch th video below to get a glimpse into our trip.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please enjoy this video students recorded for you!

Happy Halloween!

The class had a wonderful time at our Halloween parade and parties. Thanks so much to our Room Moms and all of our parents who contributed to make this one of the nicest Halloween parties Room 14 has ever seen. See more pictures from our fun-filled afternoon in the the video below. Photo Gallery Pictures

Student Council Elections

Student Council Elections

I was so proud of our boys and girls who made posters and gave speeches to be our class representatives. This was an election that truly had no losers; everyone who ran was a winner just for trying! This year Kayleigh and Katie will be representing our class at morning Council Meetings. Below are some pictures of our candidates with their posters.

Human Sundials! Studying Shadows and Light October 12, 2016

On Wednesday we furthered our scientific study of light and shadows by becoming human sundials. Students went outside four times during the day, and with a partner traced their shadows on the blacktop. They measured their shadows and recorded the time, length of shadow and position of the sun. Next they wrote observations and made predictions of what the next trip outside would bring. Students discovered that their shadows moved in a circular, clockwise direction, and in a direct line with the sun's position. They also learned the length of the shadow was related to the sun's position in the sky. Shadows were longest early in the morning when the sun was lower in the sky. Shadows were shortest when the sun was directly overhead in the middle of the day and began to lengthen again in the afternoon as the sun began to go lower in the sky. We watched a short video clip on how sundials worked and students were amazed to discover they had become human sundials. Interactive science at it's best!

The Relatives Came Read Along~Sept. 16, 2016

Thank you so much to all of our relatives who came for our surprise event. It was a great day to enjoy a few good book and a few good treats with family and friends. The boys and girls used the Cynthia Rylant book, The Relatives Came, as mentor text for a personal narrative they wrote. If you would like to see more photos from our Read Along, please be sure to visit the photo gallery.

You will also see below that our students decorated their writer's notebooks that they will use all year long!

﻿Our First Week Was Awesome!﻿

Watch the video below to see a few of the things we were up to during our first week of school.

The First Day of School is Coming!

Welcome to Room 14!

If you are reading this, chances are you just found out you will be in my class this year! Hooray! I'm so excited to get the new year started. We are going to have an awesome class this year, I can tell already. ​Check out the website from last year to get an idea of what last year's class did in third grade. We may not do the exact same things this coming year, but whatever we do will be great! I'm hoping I see you at the open house on Wednesday, August 31, from 4-5! You can bring your school supplies that day and put them in your desk!

The New School Year is Almost Here!

﻿Are you getting excited about going back to school? I know I am! Leonard's theme this year is transportation. Third grade is on the road to success with race cars!! Our journey on the road from September to June will be filled with learning and fun! I am so looking forward to meeting this year's pit crew! I just know it is going to be an amazing year!

﻿New School Dismissal Times this Year9:10 a.m. to 4:07 p.m. (First bell rings at 9:05)First day dismissal at 12:46.﻿

HAPPY to be 3rd Graders!

Enjoy watching my 3rd graders in the Spring of 2014 as they show how Happy they are! Music by Pharrell Williams. :)

I'm so happy to have the opportunity to be sharing some of the things I do in my classroom on Scholastic's Top Teaching Blogs. I hope you will join me and several other teachers as we share our ideas weekly.